Wireless cellular communication networks incorporate large numbers of mobile user equipment (UEs) and a number of base nodes (NodeBs). A NodeB is generally a fixed station, and may also be called a base transceiver system (BTS), an access point (AP), a base station (BS), or some other equivalent terminology. As improvements of networks are made, the NodeB functionality evolves, so a NodeB is sometimes also referred to as an evolved NodeB (eNB). In general, NodeB hardware, when deployed, is fixed and stationary, while the UE hardware is typically portable.
In contrast to NodeB, the mobile UE can comprise portable hardware. User equipment (UE), also commonly referred to as a terminal or a mobile station, may be fixed or mobile device and may be a wireless device, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem card, and so on. Uplink communication (UL) refers to a communication from the mobile UE to the NodeB, whereas downlink (DL) refers to communication from the NodeB to the mobile UE. Each NodeB contains radio frequency transmitter(s) and the receiver(s) used to communicate directly with the mobiles, which move freely around it. Similarly, each mobile UE contains radio frequency transmitter(s) and the receiver(s) used to communicate directly with the NodeB. In cellular networks, the mobiles cannot communicate directly with each other but have to communicate with the NodeB.
With each successive cellular phone handset generation, users demand more features in a smaller form factor. Some recent examples include cell phones with integrated Bluetooth, GPS, digital camera, and MP3 functionality. Process shrinks help deliver a cost and size advantage for digital designs with relative ease. However, for analog/RF designs, the immaturity of advanced processes comes with design challenges that may outweigh the intended advantage. In a older generation handsets, 30 to 40% of handset board space is occupied by analog/RF functionality which cannot be re-designed or migrated to the newer process/technology nodes easily, inhibiting vendor ability to cost effectively add features and reduce footprint.
Digital radio has recently allowed the replacement of space consuming analog RF circuitry with much more compact digital circuitry, thereby facilitating the ability to port designs rapidly to more advanced lithographies. Texas Instruments (TI) has proven this concept with its Digital RF Processor (DRP™) architecture, which it has successfully implemented in production versions of its Bluetooth BRF6xxx transceivers, GSM/GPRS LoCosto TCS23xx transceivers among other chips. DRP implementation is consistent with the on-going trend toward RF-CMOS in the cellular area, making it attractive in terms of power consumption, cost, and the integration of multiple radios.
Oscillators are a key component in the design of radio frequency (RF) communication systems. The estimation and calibration of the modulation gain of an RF oscillator is currently an area of active research. Accurate knowledge of this gain significantly reduces the complexity and increases the performance of the phase-locked loop (PLL) as well as the transmit frequency modulation path. It is particularly beneficial in systems implemented in deep submicron and nanoscale CMOS and based on orthogonal frequency/phase and amplitude (i.e. polar) topology. Estimation of RF oscillator frequency-modulation gain is especially important in low-cost dominantly digital high-volume transceivers. In such systems, the phase locked loop sets the loop bandwidth while the transmitter sets the transfer function of the direct frequency modulation path wherein the acceptable gain estimation error ranges from less than 1% for LTE/WCDMA to several percents for EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), GSM and Bluetooth, for example.
An all-digital frequency synthesizer architecture built around a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) that is tuned in response to a digital tuning word (OTW) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,046,098 entitled “All-digital frequency synthesis with capacitive re-introduction of dithered tuning information” and is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
All known EDGE transmitters are affected by modulation distortion due to the RF oscillator pulling by the transmitted RF output and supply-ground coupling of extraneous noise sources. Whether using a polar or I/Q TX modulator, the instantaneous transmitted frequency at the SoC (system on a chip) output or PA (power amp) output is different from the resonant frequency of the RF oscillator, thus creating a frequency puling force. Correspondingly supply-ground coupling of extraneous noise and current spikes generated by other circuits on the same die causes frequency pushing of the oscillator.
In a typical EDGE transmitter, amplitude modulation of the pre-power amplifier (PPA) causes frequency pulling of the DCO thus leading to the degradation in error vector magnitude (EVM). The pulling problem is currently solved in industry by (1) significantly increasing the loop bandwidth: (2) using offset PLL architecture that is based on non-harmonic frequency planning. Both of these methods significantly increase the hardware complexity and consumed power.